French unit sizes as an indication of casualites they have taken in the war

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

As long as the ship stayed afloat there'd be a hell of a fight over it the moment somebody found out what it carried. If it couldn't be recovered in short order, it'd be a certainty to be scuttled asap just to prevent anyone else grabbing it.

Oh yeah <evil grin>... just the thing to put the pressure on the PCs, "Get to that ship before the enemy does or else somebody will sink the damned thing - us, them, the locals, who knows but if you don't get there in time it WILL be sunk!"

You could make it even more of a challenge by having the French locate the vessel and put a small group of French Marines on board to secure it. They can secure it but they can't operate it and they really don't have the forces/equipment/intell to stop someone from trying to sink it.

The PCs show up and perhaps someone on the 'shady' side asks them to secure the vessel for a significant reward - do they help the French government/military, do they try to take over the ship for their own profit, if the PCs aren't French do they try to take the ship for their own military?
Some fun to be had with that scenario!